The Legacy Of Goth
by ian.cotterill.56
Summary: Planet Goth is a dead world. A planet littered with the remains of the once mighty Deathsmiths of Goth. So when the Sontarans arrive to lay claim to the deadly weapons of the Deathsmiths' once great empire, they expect an easy conquest. But when the Doctor and Sarah Jane arrive as well, they discover a threat to every sentient life-form in the universe, waiting to break free...
1. Planet Goth

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**

**This tale is a sequel to the comic story 'Black Legacy', originally written by Alan Moore and published in 'Doctor Who Weekly' issues 35-38. However, it is written to work as a standalone, so it would be easy to follow without reading the original story.**

**Featuring the Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith, this adventure is set between the TV stories 'The Seeds Of Doom' and 'The Masque Of Mandragora'.**

* * *

The planet Goth was one of the most feared and desolate planets in the whole of the universe. It's surface largely consisted of dead trees and dull grey rocks, while high in the sky, dark clouds bloated out the sunlight. The stench of death and decay still hung in the air, adding to the foreboding scene.

Standing out from the majority of the barren landscape was an enormous statue, as large as a mountain and sculpted into the form of a hunchbacked creature, with an outstretched clawed hand and a misshaped head looking up at the stormy sky. Exactly what kind of creature the statue was meant to represent is unclear, as time has weathered the statue, making it even more contorted than it was when it was first built. But even in its current dilapidated state, it still resonated with an air of evil, as if to warn species of other worlds to stay away from this planet. For over two hundred years it had stood there, quite alone on this ravaged planet.

But today was going to be quite different. Today, Goth was going to have some visitors.

* * *

A huge gleaming diamond-patterned ball abruptly drops out of the gloomy sky and hovered near to the huge statue. Inside the smooth sphere, various short stocky creatures with bald dome-shaped heads and dressed in shiny space armour were busying themselves at the flight controls, making preparations to land onto the surface of Goth. One of the creatures gestured with its three-fingered hand towards the monitor screen, upon which could be seen the towering statue that would cause any other race to tremble in fear.

"Look Field Major! The Black Colossus of Goth! We are the first beings to view this spectacle in over two hundred years!" said the creature in awe.

Field Major Vaux of the 15th Sontaran Space Squad nodded with a devilish smile on his face. "Indeed Quaarl... And soon the legendary lost weapons of the Deathsmiths will belong to us! The Sontarans will reign supreme!"

"A pleasant thought, Field Major," answered Sergeant Quaarl. "We are indeed fortunate that the Daleks or the Cybermen did not beat us to it!"

And with that, the Sontaran ship began to make its descent, unaware that out on the surface, hidden amongst the withered vegetation, something was watching them. From the shadows it watched them land, its blood-red eyes glowing intently in the darkness as a sense of eagerness began running through its entire body. This time it would escape to spread its blight across the heavens. It would be free to do the job it was created to do. It would be patient for now and observe these beings first before making its move, but it would not wait forever...

* * *

As soon as the ship had landed, the squad of Sontarans worked at once to secure their camp. They worked with the same militaristic precision that would be expected of any Sontaran soldier, constructing various dome-shaped shelters and making sure that the perimeter was well-defended, with next to no chance of an enemy catching them by surprise. As the troops continued with their appointed tasks, Vaux and Quaarl took the opportunity to take a closer look at the Colossus that had once acted as the milestone of the awesome Deathsmiths of Goth.

"Truly a magnificent structure," breathed Vaux in what seemed to be admiration. "It is easy to imagine why lesser races used to cower in fear before the Deathsmith Empire."

"It is a great pity that the Deathsmiths themselves no longer exist," remarked Quaarl in regret. "They would have made worthy adversaries for the might of our Sontaran military forces."

"Quite so, Quaarl," agreed Vaux. "But unfortunately they are now all dead, their civilisation gone almost as if it never existed. So we shall have to settle for obtaining their magnificent weapons and all the priceless secrets hidden away on this miserable world. Even after all these centuries, the legacy they have left behind is formidable. Weapons that can blast whole planets to pieces, reduce dozens of Rutan fleets to less than micro-dust!"

"Indeed, Sir," said Quaarl. "With such weapons, no race in the Universe will be able to deny the strength of the Sontaran Empire!"

Vaux nodded. "But enough reverie for the meantime. We will commence the search for the Deathsmiths' weapons at dawn, but for now we will secure the area and make camp. But there is one task to be performed first."

With that, Vaux held up a long silver pole that he had in his hand and planted it firmly into the ground. A pair of flags popped out of the top of the pole and the two Sontaran officers held up their arms in salute.

"By the authority invested in me by the Grand Strategic Council of Sontar," declared Vaux, "I hereby claim this planet and all its moons and colonies for the greater glory of the Sontaran Empire."


	2. Cyber-Graveyard

The pale red sun began to rise over the jagged mountains, marking the dawn of a new day for Goth. Some miles away from the Sontaran encampment, a blue Police Box faded into view, the wheezing noise of its ancient engines breaking across the normal silence of the place. As soon as the box had finished solidifying, the door opened and an attractive girl in her early twenties emerged. She had shoulder-length brown hair and was dressed in a white peasant blouse, a long pinafore-style patterned dress and brown leather boots. She took in her surroundings with a disdainful look and she folded her arms in exasperation.

"Doctor, this doesn't look much like Blackpool to me," she called towards the interior of the box.

A couple of seconds later and the Doctor emerged from the TARDIS, his hat perched firmly on his curly-haired head and the ends of his incredibly long scarf trailing along in the dusty ground. An embarrassed look crossed his face as he saw that his companion was correct.

"You know I do believe you're right," he said. "Must be the drift compensators playing up again. I really ought to get those looked at one of these centuries. Still, not to worry. We'll just ask one of the locals for directions and try again."

Sarah Jane Smith turned her head again, looking one side to the other for any sign of civilisation. But all she could see rocks and old rotten trees, with no sign of life anywhere.

"'Ask one of the locals'? It doesn't look as though anyone's been here for years! And I can't say I blame them if the rest of the planet is like this."

"Yes, it does look a little on the bleak side doesn't it?" admitted the Doctor, as he walked over to join her. He then pulled a yo-yo out of his pocket and began to roll it up and down on its string.

"Hmm, gravity seems similar enough to Earth," he remarked as he finished his tests with the yo-yo. "And the radiation levels seem to be normal according to the TARDIS's instruments. Planet is probably just very old and worn down."

"And creepy," remarked Sarah as she regarded the bleak landscape apprehensively while the sickly-red sun continued to rise over the dark horizon. Then she suddenly noticed something glittering in the distance.

"Hey, what's that?" she asked, pointing with her finger.

The Doctor pulled out an old-fashioned telescope from his pocket and held it to his eye, looking towards where Sarah's finger was pointing.

"Looks like the wreckage of a spaceship," he said at last. "Only about a mile from here. Could be survivors down there. Come on, let's go and take a look."

And with that, he started to walk at a brisk pace towards the wreckage with Sarah following close behind. As the two travellers got closer to the scattered remains of the ship, they could see that there were no survivors after all. And as they clambered down the hill and saw the broken metal bodies strewn across the ground in more detail, Sarah could not help but gasp in shock as she realised who the spaceship once belonged to.

"Doctor, they're Cybermen! Dozens of dead Cybermen!" she exclaimed, recognising the metal monsters from one of her previous adventures with the Doctor.

The Doctor nodded grimly and knelt down to examine of of the grisly remains of a Cyberman trooper. "Hmm, that's odd. These Cybermen weren't killed by the blast from their ship. They've been rotted away, as though some powerful form of rust just ate them up. Now I wonder what could have caused that?"

"Gold perhaps?" suggested Sarah, remembering how the silver giants were once vulnerable to the substance.

The Doctor shook his head. "No, I don't think so. And I'll tell you something else. Look at the way the debris is spread out. This ship didn't crash on impact. It was blown up on the ground!"

"You mean they blew themselves up? But why would they do a crazy thing like that?" asked Sarah.

The Doctor shrugged. "Systems malfunction perhaps? It's hard to to be sure without... Ah-ha!"

The Doctor gave a wide toothy grin as he spotted something half-buried amongst the wreckage. He ran over to the object and carefully removed it from beneath the debris.

"Flight recorder," he explained as he examined the small silver rectangular object in his hand. "Amazing, it's completely intact! That's Cyber-craftsmanship for you. We might be able to find out what happened from this, Sarah. Sarah?"

But Sarah Jane was not listening. Her attention had been diverted by a huge hunchback figure towering in the distance.

"Doctor, what's that statue over there? It's bigger than the Empire State Building!"

Pocketing the flight recorder, the Doctor walked over and looked at the gigantic figure, his eyes widening until they seem to bulge.

"The Black Colossus of Goth," he breathed. "Well, at least we now know where we are."

Sarah looked infuriatingly at him. "Well I certainly don't! What is the Black Colossus of Goth when it's at home?"

The Doctor looked gravely at her. "Only the symbolic landmark of one of the most rapacious and destructive species in the universe. The Deathsmiths of Goth, with their awesome weaponry, were once more feared than even the Daleks. According to the old legends of Gallifrey, they left a trail of destruction through many star systems and almost went to war with the Time Lords themselves."

"So what happened to them?" asked Sarah.

"Well, no-one really knows," replied the Doctor as he scratched his ear absentmindedly. "Almost overnight, their civilisation vanished without trace. Now, Goth is a dead world, a haunted planet, shunned by all."

"Until we came along," shivered Sarah. "Perhaps we should get back in the TARDIS and just leave."

The Doctor looked appalled. "Oh, come now, Sarah Jane! What's happened to your journalistic curiosity? I for one would never be able to sleep if I left without solving the mystery here!"

Sarah gave a weary smile. "Oh all right. So where do we start?"

"Well, if I remember the old records from Gallifrey correctly," pondered the Doctor, "the main city should be just down there. Perhaps we'll find a clue in there."

* * *

Field Major Vaux watched his troops march onto the hover transporter with considerable pride. The 15th Sontaran space squad was one of the most decorated and revered platoons in the whole Sontaran fleet. For the last ten years, they had been through many glorious campaigns in their fight against the Rutan horde, their victories earning them a legendary status in the galaxy. Vaux himself had worked hard to forge his unit into a smooth and well-oiled fighting machine and it gave him some considerable satisfaction to see his men behave with their usual level of efficiency and obedience that would be expected of any Sontaran.

As his troops settled into their seats, guns at the ready, Vaux began to move to the front of the vehicle in order to clamber on board next to the driver. He was just about to get onboard, when Sergeant Quaarl approached him with what looked like an expression of embarrassment on his face.

"Um, Field Major, I have to report something," Quaarl said awkwardly.

Vaux regarded his subordinate with puzzlement. It was not like Quaarl to behave so uncouthly, especially before a superior officer.

"Yes Quaarl, what is it?" demanded Vaux.

Quaarl shifted clumsily. "During the night, while I was on my recharge cycle, I had a disturbing vision. I think it is what humanoids call... a nightmare."

Vaux looked surprised. "Is this some kind of jest, Quaarl? Sontarans are not prone to nightmares! We dream only of glorious war and an even more glorious death!"

"I realise that sir," continued Quaarl. " At first, I thought there was a malfunction with my terullian diode bypass transformer. But this morning, three other troopers reported having the same disturbing vision at the same that I did! As shameful as it is, I felt that I ought to report this to you at once."

"Yes, you were quite right, Quaarl," said Vaux as he pondered this. "What exactly happened in this 'dream'?"

"The details are vague, Sir," said Quaarl. "All I can remember was being confronted by some foul creature, that smelt of rotting flesh. I try to blast it with my weapon, but the monster simply laughed and proceeded to consume me. I am ashamed to say that I was... afraid."

Vaux mused over this. Any other Sontaran officer would simply put this all down to mental deterioration and have the deficient trooper melted down. But Vaux was intelligent and experienced. He knew Quaarl was not normally prone to visions and the fact that three other troopers reported having the same vision strongly suggested some external influence was at work here.

"Hmm, the Deathsmiths were rumoured to have weapons that can attack the mind and cause mental collapse," said Vaux at last, as he recalled the mission briefings he attended before coming to this dead world. "Perhaps, one of those might account for this."

Quaarl stiffened to attention, already feeling more like his old self now that he had relayed his concerns to the Field Major. "But Sir, that would suggest that someone-else is on this planet, attempting to undermine our strategic position."

"Indeed," said Vaux seriously. "So I want you to take a couple of troopers and scout out the area here for any hostile invaders. I want this matter settled by the time the rest of us have returned from exploring the city. And should you find the scum responsible for this _indignity_... Blast them to plasma!"


	3. City Of The Dead

In the prime of its time, the city of the Deathsmiths was a magnificent sight to behold, with various strangely shaped buildings and spires that rose high up into the sky. But now, like the rest of the planet, it was all in ruins, gradually crumbling to bits and covered in layers-upon-layers of dust. As the Doctor and Sarah made their way further into the dead city, Sarah felt a chill run through her.

"Bit of a ghost town, isn't it?" she remarked. Taking another step forward, she noticed something half-buried in the ground. Kneeling down for a closer look, she could see that it was a large skeleton, similar in appearance to a mammal with a long tail and a skull with long sharp tusks.

"Is that one of the Deathsmiths?" she asked.

"Yes. Well, what's left of one anyway," confirmed the Doctor absentmindedly, taking in the rest of their surroundings. "There are similar remains all over the city. Curiouser and curiouser. They all seem to have rotted away just like the Cybermen."

"Why? Do think you think they were all the victims of some global catastrophe? Maybe they all got a bad case of bird flu," said Sarah worriedly, alarmed at the thought there might be a deadly virus still roaming about the planet.

"Oh, it would have to be rather pernicious than that. The Deathsmiths supposedly had incredible recuperative powers and were largely immune to many of the universe's greatest diseases. It would have to have taken an incredibly powerful epidemic to wipe out the entire Deathsmith population."

The Doctor suddenly noticed a number of more Cyberman bodies scattered near the entrance one of the larger buildings.

"Now I wonder what's in there?" he mused, suddenly sprinting over with Sarah following close behind. The huge double doors of the building were ajar and as the two travellers cautiously peered through, they could see a cavernous room containing rows upon rows of display cases, in which were a multitude of strange alien devices.

"Wow, it's a great big museum," said Sarah, her voice echoing in the vast chamber.

"The Doctor regarded the displays with a mixed expression of disdain and scientific interest. "Yes, a war museum. A displayed history of their many vile and destructive campaigns. Over there is a brain-wave scrambler, very nasty, and that looks like a nova disintegrator. Extraordinary! The Deathsmiths certainly had an imagination and sense of art when it comes to war, didn't they? Such a pity they couldn't put their skills to better use."

"Well, I can certainly see why some people are glad to see the back of them," remarked Sarah. "You know, a lot of these display cases are empty. Maybe these Deathsmiths were busy spring-cleaning before whatever happened to them happened."

"More likely the Cybermen looted the museum and tried to take them away in their ship," said the Doctor. "There are many great powers out there in the universe who'd be quite eager to get their hands or tentacles on even just one of the weapons here."

Looking around a bit further, Sarah then noticed a large round vault door in the corner which was slightly ajar. "I wonder what's in there? Looks pretty major to me."

The Doctor peered around the door and looked inside. "Don't know. The chamber's empty aside from a load of cobwebs. Must have been quite important though. This vault is well fortified."

He looked closely at the door, the edges showing the same kind of corrosion that they had seen on all the bodies outside. "And whatever it was that was in the vault, it seems to have managed to break out at some point," he concluded worriedly as a piece of the door broke off in his hand.

"Hey, maybe this can tell us what was in there," said Sarah, pointing to a large metal plaque, hung next to the vault opening. She began to read the information text out loud.

"_Inside this chamber is the greatest weapon of our mighty Deathsmith Empire: the Apocalypse Device. Let all who read this plaque beware, for this is the ultimate weapon of the Deathsmiths and not to be misused, lest destruction be brought down upon our entire race._"

Sarah felt goosebumps run up her spine. "Oh, I don't like the sound of that, not one bit."

"No, ultimate weapons do tend to be rather uncontrollable and bad-tempered," agreed the Doctor, as he crossed to another open doorway. As he stepped through, he found himself on a large balcony, a viewing platform for a huge chamber. As the Doctor peered over the edge of the balcony to see the floor a mile or so below, he could see a vast number of large formidable-looking spaceships, or rather, the remains of them. Each ship was once elegant in design with a variety of powerful weapons attached to them, but now they were all in ruins, just like everything else on the planet.

"Oh, now there's a sight for one's eyes," breathed the Doctor. "Just look at that, Sarah Jane! The once mighty fleet of the Deathsmiths. Just look at that craftsmanship!"

Sarah was just coming over to join him, when she heard a noise behind them. Turning around, her face paled and she gasped in shock at what she saw.

"Uh, Doctor..." she began.

The Doctor didn't hear her as he was so engrossed in studying the spaceship debris. "By the looks of it, these ships were all blown from the inside! Presumably by the Deathsmiths themselves. Now why would they do something as silly as that, I wonder?"

"An excellent question," growled a cold and harsh voice from behind. The Doctor whirled and finally noticed what Sarah had just seen. A squad of Sontaran troopers, who were all aiming their weapons at them, ready to deal out death at a moment's notice. The leading Sontaran stepped forward and removed his helmet, revealing the same potato-shaped head that Sarah knew all too well. The Sontaran leader looked over the two time travellers disdainfully.

"You would be well advised to surrender," said the Sontaran bluntly. "As of now, you shall consider yourselves prisoners of war."

"Oh dear," sighed the Doctor. "It's going to be one of those days I see."

* * *

Sergeant Quaarl and his two troopers moved cautiously through the dead trees of the wasted forest next to the Sontarans' main encampment. Although their tracking sensors detected no life signs in the immediate area aside from the three of them, Quaarl knew from experience that it would be unwise to entrust their safety to mere machines, which can be influenced or develop an unexpected fault. Most Sontarans would consider it unlikely for their advanced technology to fail them in any way, but Quaarl preferred to mount a proper patrol and conduct a vigorous search himself. As much as it shamed him to admit it, the vision he had during the night had unsettled him and he would not be satisfied that there was no danger until every inch of the area had been throughly investigated. It was a restlessness that was rubbing off on his two troopers.

"Peh, there's nothing here," scoffed Trooper Stol, pushing a dead branch out of his face. "If you ask me, the sergeant's gone soft in the head."

His comrade, Trooper Reck, rounded on him angrily. "You will not show such flagrant disrespect to a superior officer!" he snapped. "Orders are orders and if the Sergeant wants this area searched, then search it we will."

Stol grumbled, but refrained from responding, lest he find himself on a disciplinary charge. The two Sontarans moved to catch up with Quaarl, who stood in a clearing and was eying the place suspiciously.

"What is it, Sir?" asked Reck quietly.

"I thought I heard something," said Quaarl. "Somewhere in those bushes."

Barring his mezon blaster, Reck moved forward and began prodding at the bushes, eager to find something to fight with. Suddenly, _something _leapt out of the bushes and lashed out with a claw-like hand, its talons leaving deep scars in Reck's chest. With a cry of surprise rather than pain, Reck fell to the ground, while his two comrades fired their weapons at the creature. The creature gave out a cruel inhuman laugh, as each laser bolt harmlessly impacted into it, leaving not one single burn mark on its withered flesh.

To Quaarl's eyes, the large creature looked somewhat hunchback in shape, dressed in a black decrepit cloak that fluttered in the wind. Its grey rotting skin was so thin that the shape of its skull could be clearly seen with a pair of crimson-red eyes burning brightly in its sockets. It was the same monstrous creature that Quaarl had previously seen in his vision.

"What manner of abomination are you?" Quaarl managed to say.

The creature looked straight at him, an evil toothy smile playing across its features.

"I... am... DEATH!" it shrieked, before lunging straight at the two Sontarans. Within seconds, the cold silence of the night was interrupted by the sound of screams, followed soon after by a malevolent laugh.

The Apocalypse Device had claimed its first victims.


	4. Casualties Of War

"Hey! Stop poking!" complained Sarah as one of the Sontaran troopers finished searching her for hidden weapons. Satisfied that the female was unarmed, the Sontaran began going through the Doctor's coat pockets, extracting a number of objects that left the trooper baffled as to their purpose.

"What is this device? Some kind of grenade?" he demanded, holding up a small disc-like device with a piece of string woven around it's centre.

"Oh no, that's just a yo-yo," said the Doctor with an innocent smile. "Very useful for testing gravity on planets. You can do all sorts of performing tricks with it too. Would you like me to try out a flying saucer trick?"

"You have a scout craft in orbit?" exclaimed the trooper, thrusting the nozzle of his blaster under the Doctor's nose.

"I believe this humanoid is making a joke at your expense, trooper," clarified Vaux wearily, before addressing the Doctor. "I would advise you to be less flippant. One command from me and these troopers would blast you two to plasma! Is that clear?"

"Oh absolutely, Colonel Grumpy," muttered the Doctor.

"I am not a Colonel nor is my name 'Grumpy'," said Vaux patiently. " I am Field Major Vaux of the 15th Sontaran space squad and I would know what you two are doing on this benighted rock."

"We were just looking around, that's all," said Sarah. "I mean, this is a museum after all. Bound to have visitors every now and then."

"Be silent boy!" snapped one trooper. "You'll only answer direct questions from the Field Major."

Vaux held his face in his left palm, embarrassed by his subordinate's ignorance. "That is a female, trooper. You really should pay more attention to the field handbook on alien species."

"Apologies Sir," said the trooper, before turning to Sarah again. "Be silent, _girl_. Sorry about that, lad."

"I think I can guess why you're all here," said the Doctor. "Here to nick some of the Deathsmiths' weapons are you? That's a bit of a comedown for the mighty Sontaran Empire, isn't it? Grave robbing the worlds of dead civilisations, hardly honourable behaviour is it?"

"You dare put stain on my honour?!" spat Vaux. "You do not seem to comprehend the treasure trove this world holds."

"I assure you, I do," said the Doctor seriously. "This planet harbours some of the most destructive devices ever constructed, enough to waste whole galaxies to dust. Do you seriously think you can handle all that power without totally mucking it up?"

"Of course we can handle it," retorted Vaux. "What do you take us for, simpletons?"

"Oh, of course not," said the Doctor, crossing his fingers behind his back. "But you should know that someone else has tried to make off with the Deathsmiths' inventions and they didn't get very far with their ambitions at all."

"If you are referring to the Cybermen, we are already aware of this," said Vaux. "We discovered their pitiful remains on the way here."

"And you're not at all worried that whatever killed them might still be around?" interjected Sarah. "Aren't you the least bit interested in what happened to the Deathsmiths all those years ago?"

Vaux glowered at her angrily. "I warn you, girl. One more word from you and I'll..."

But before Vaux could complete his sentence, there was a sudden beeping noise from his communicator. Grateful for this distraction, he took the device from his belt and switched it on.

"Field Major Vaux here. Report!"

A weak, but determined voice cam through on the speaker. "Sir... under attack... require... reinforcements..."

Vaux began bellowing urgently into the communicator. "Is that you Quaarl? What is happening? Report. Report!"

Vaux's demands were met by nothing but the sound of static from the communicator.

"It would appear that Sergeant Quaarl is dead, sir," remarked a trooper.

"Perhaps so," said Vaux. "We had best return to camp at once. And bring these aliens along, I may wish to question them further."

* * *

It took an hour for the transport to reach base and as soon as they were parked, the Sontarans quickly began the search for their missing comrades. Two troopers kept a close eye on the Doctor and Sarah, who were busy taking in their surroundings.

"Doctor, you don't think that whatever happened to the Cybermen is now happening to the Sontarans, do you?" whispered Sarah.

"I'm very much afraid so, Sarah," said the Doctor darkly. "And if I'm right, it could also be the key to how the Deathsmiths died out as well."

Vaux could not help but overhear this and he eyed the Doctor suspiciously. "You seem to know a great deal for someone just visiting. What exactly are you suggesting?"

"Oh come now, Field Major," said the Doctor. "You must have noticed the empty vault with its door hinges rotted through. And the spaceships apparently destroyed by the Deathsmiths themselves. I think that there's something on this planet, a weapon so deadly that even the Deathsmiths could not allow it to be set loose on the universe. Whatever it was, it wiped out the Deathsmiths, took out an entire group of Cybermen and now it seems to be out for your lot as well."

There was a sudden and urgent call from within a nearby cluster of dead trees. "Field Major! Over here!"

Gesturing to the guards to bring the two prisoners along, Vaux headed off towards the call of his trooper. It took a few minutes to clamber through the grey and rotten branches, but at last he managed to reach the clearing where he found his soldiers looking over a most unpleasant sight.

"Quaarl? By the moons of Sontar, what has happened to him?" exclaimed Vaux as he looked at the pitiful remains of Quaarl and trooper Stol who were laid out on the ground before him, both quite dead. The two Sontarans' battle armour had been torn apart to shreds and their skins seemed to have been eaten away as though they had both been sprayed by coronic acid. Deep green blood poured out of various open wounds and Quaarl had lost one eye.

"I'm unsure what has happened, Sir," reported the soldier who had found them. "They both seem to be rotting away. Trooper Reck is still alive, but unconscious. He sustained some serious wounding, but does not seem to be in any immediate danger."

"Have him sent back to camp immediately," ordered Vaux. "As soon as he is awake, I want a complete report from him on what has occurred here!"

There was a sudden rustle from the branches behind Vaux as the Doctor and Sarah were marched into the clearing with their guards close behind. There was a gasp of horror from Sarah at the sight of the two corpses.

"Oh, that's horrible. Is it the same as what happened to all the others, Doctor?"

The Doctor knelt down to examine the bodies more closely. One trooper started to move to pull the Time Lord back, but Vaux quietly held up his arm to indicate to the trooper to let the Doctor carry on with his examinations. The Field Major wanted to study the reaction of these humanoids to all of this in order to establish if they were in any way responsible for Quaarl's death. This was the main reason why he had them brought along in the first place. Judging from the girl's shocked expression and the Doctor's grim look, it strongly suggested that they were as much in the dark as the Sontarans. Of course in no way did this mean that the Field Major could trust the two travellers. It simply established that the Sontarans had another enemy to contend with.

The Doctor finished his examination. "Yes, they've been eaten away, poor fellows. Hard to be sure, but it looks like some kind of virus attack. There are small puncture wounds on them, as though they had been bitten by something." He turned to Vaux. "Do you have a portable medical unit here by any chance?"

Vaux glowered at the Doctor. "This is a military expedition, not a hospital service! We Sontarans do not bother ourselves with the weak and infirm."

"Oh come on, you must have some kind of medical kit," retorted Sarah.

"Some small supplies for emergency situations," admitted Vaux. "We also have a range of survey equipment for examining the organic and molecular structure of this planet."

"Well, that should suffice," said the Doctor as he got to his feet. "It will be quite useful for my investigations."

Vaux could not believe his ears. "_Your _investigations?"

"Well of course my investigations!" snapped the Doctor. "What we're dealing with here is a danger to us all, Field Major. And if I don't get the answers to all this quickly, we may all end up dead. Now you're an intelligent chap. Surely you wouldn't want to throw away a valuable resource like myself would you?"

Vaux considered for a moment. For all his insolence, this Doctor displayed some level of intelligence and his statements were quite logical. If there was indeed an deadly predator loose on this planet, than there may be advantages in co-operation.

"Very well, Doctor," Vaux said at last. "You may proceed with your _investigation_."

"Sir! You cannot possibly be willing to trust this alien!" protested one of the guards. "For all we know, they could be behind all this!"

"You do well to remember to whom you're addressing, trooper!" snapped Vaux. "I do not need to trust this alien. Should he prove unreliable, his female comrade will be executed before his very eyes, in the most excruciatingly and undignified way possible."

"Charming," muttered Sarah.

* * *

From the shadows, the Apocalypse Device watched the small band of creatures carry their wounded trooper and the two corpses back to their encampment. It regarded the aliens curiously. The troll men are pitiful excuses for invaders and could be easily dealt with, just as it had once dealt with the men of steel. But the man, he was different. He displayed an unusually high level of intelligence and when the device softly tried to telepathically probe the being's mind, it found it could not penetrate his thoughts. There was a mental barrier of some kind, blocking the Device's attempts to read his mind. Furthermore, this Doctor seemed to be quite close to establishing the truth of what was happening here.

The ultimate weapon considered. This traveller could be a danger, yet he could also be the key to the Apocalypse Device's salvation...


	5. Message From The Past

It took over an hour for the Sontarans to gather all the equipment that the Doctor needed in order to conduct his examinations and since the Sontarans had no laboratory, one of the detention domes had to be converted into a lab. Finally, the equipment was all set up and the Doctor got straight to work, examining various samples he had gathered since arriving in the TARDIS. As he buried himself into his microscope, Sarah stood by his side, glancing nervously at the two Sontarans guarding the exit, ensuring that they would not be making any escape attempts.

"Doctor, you can't seriously expect the Sontarans to just let us go, do you?" asked Sarah in a whisper. "You know how cold-blooded they are."

"One problem at a time, Sarah," said the Doctor as he examined a piece of rusted metal from the vault door they had stumbled across. "If I'm right, what we're dealing with could be more deadly than the entire Sontaran war-fleet put together."

"Well, what are we dealing with? Is it something to do with what was in that vault we found?"

"Well, it would be a logical assumption," said the Doctor, engrossed in his work. "According to these scanners, this piece of the vault door was attacked by some form of powerful rust, the same kind that destroyed those Cybermen out there. Quite extraordinary really. And whatever this virus was, it has similar characteristics to whatever killed the Deathsmiths and those two Sontarans."

"Oh great, so we have landed on a plague planet. That's just terrific," huffed Sarah.

"I don't think it's a simple as that, Sarah," said the Doctor seriously as he pointed to one of the monitor screens. "If these readings are correct, the viruses aren't spreading from victim to victim or from material to material. They seem to be specifically targeting each particular victim."

"Targeting? You mean someone's doing all this deliberately?"

The Doctor nodded. "Yes, something aggressive with very sharp claws, if that injured Sontaran's wounds are anything to go by. Not only that, but Vaux mentioned that some of his warriors were actually having nightmares. That's unusual for Sontarans, which suggests we're also dealing with psychic powers of some kind that are currently on the attack, which is very worrying. You know it would help if we had some eyewitness that could describe the thing to us."

"Hang on a minute, what about that flight recorder we found earlier? Perhaps there's something on that that could help," Sarah suddenly remembered.

The Doctor shot a toothy grin at Sarah. "Oh very good, Sarah Jane. Now, why didn't I think of that?"

* * *

In the command dome, Field Major Vaux was intently watching the monitor screens of the security system. In particular, he was keeping an eye on the screen depicting the investigations of the curly-haired humanoid designated 'Doctor'. For all his insolence, the man displayed high levels of intelligence and had an air of authority that almost earned Vaux's respect. At present, Vaux considered the Doctor to be both a potentially useful asset and an equally potential danger, which is why the Field Major had opted to keep a close eye on the two travellers.

"Look, sir," said the security officer. "He seems to be removing a bomb from his pocket!"

Vaux looked closely at the screen which showed the Doctor pulling a silver box from his coat pocket.

"I don't think it's a bomb, trooper," said Vaux at last. "It looks more like a data device to me."

_Even so_, Vaux thought to himself, _I shall have to have discipline the trooper who searched these aliens earlier. He clearly did not do his duty properly._

The security officer turned to look at his commanding officer. "If I may speak freely, sir. Do you seriously intend to allow these aliens to go free once they've completed their appointed task?"

"Certainly not, trooper," snarled Vaux. "They are prisoners of war and live only as long as they are of use to us. When their usefulness comes to an end, I shall have the personal pleasure of executing this Doctor myself."

The two Sontarans continued to watch the Doctor's tests with intent fascination. In fact, they were so engrossed in watching the two time travellers, that they did not notice a flurry of activity on the screen showing the medical section. If they had been paying attention, they would have seen Trooper Reck leaping out of his bed and knocking out the Sontaran attending to his wounds, before making a mad dash out of the medical dome, towards the ship...

* * *

It took just a few minutes for Sarah to convince the Sontaran guards that the silver box the Doctor was connecting to the scanners was not a weapon of any kind and it took another minute on top of that for the Doctor to finish tuning the flight recorder into the monitors with his Sonic Screwdriver. But at last everything was set-up correctly and the Doctor gave a triumphant cry as an image started to form on the screen.

"Aha! Now perhaps we can get some answers."

As Sarah came over to watch, a picture started to form on the screen, depicting a spaceship control room, full of advanced gleaming silver flight instruments. A few seconds later, a door opened and a Cyberman dashed into the room. This was the Cyber Leader, designated by the black handlebars on its helmet, and for a supposedly emotionless race, it seemed to be in a state of considerable agitation.

"I MADE IT! IT DIDN'T TRY TO STOP ME!" exclaimed the electronic voice of the Cyber Leader. "I'M SAFE... FREE TO BLAST OFF! BUT WHY DIDN'T IT DESTROY ME? UNLESS... IT WANTED ME TO ESCAPE!"

As the Doctor and Sarah watched on in horrified fascination, the Cyber Leader crossed to an external scanner screen, upon which a deformed and hunchbacked figure could be seen.

"OF COURSE!" said the Cyber Leader in realisation. "IT'S TRAPPED ON THIS PLANET! THAT'S WHY THE DEATHSMITHS DESTROYED THEIR OWN SPACESHIPS... TO STOP IT FROM GETTING AWAY! ONCE FREE IT COULD DESTROY THE GALAXY... THE UNIVERSE! THAT'S WHY IT LET ME LIVE... IT WANTS ME TO GIVE IT FREEDOM!"

The Cyber Leader than crossed over to a control marked 'AUTO DESTRUCT', its decision all too clear.

"I WON'T DO IT!" it declared as it pressed the fateful destruct button. Seconds later, the whole screen whited-out and there was the sound of a colossal explosion, before the whole recording turned to static.

Sarah and the Doctor exchanged wide-eyed looks, both appalled by what they had seen.

"Doctor," said Sarah slowly, "if that creature really was responsible for all this decimation and is still alive now..."

"Yes," agreed the Doctor, "we could be in for a lot of trouble. A creature that can spread various diseases as a weapon and can induce fear into even the Cybermen and the Sontarans... Well, the consequences of it getting free scarcely bear thinking about."

Suddenly, they could hear the sound of laser-fire outside, followed by yells and cries. Springing to his feet, the Doctor dashed towards the door, but the two guards barred his way.

"You will remain here," commanded the first guard. "You are not permitted to leave unless the Field Major authorises it."

"Oh come on!" protested Sarah. "Can't you hear what's going on out there?!"

"Nevertheless, you are to remain here and complete your investigations," stated the other guard, "and we have orders to keep you here."

"Well actually, strictly speaking, your orders are to guard us, not to restrict our movement," pointed out the Doctor innocently. "And as you say, your Field Major wants me to complete my investigations. I can't very well do that if I'm stuck here and unable to see what's happening out there. Now you're, err, intelligent chaps. Wouldn't it make more sense if you came along with us instead?"

The two guards looked at each other in confusion.

"He does have a point," said the first guard at last. "The Field Major would not be pleased if he doesn't get the results we all need."

"Oh very well," conceded the second guard. "But you two aliens better not make any escape attempts, lest we end up having to shoot you in the back."


	6. Sontaran Mutiny

At the first sound of laser-fire, Vaux marched out straight out of the command dome to find out what was happening. The first thing he noticed was a number of his troops surrounding the entry hatch to the spaceship, fiddling with the opening mechanism and hammering on the sturdy door.

"What in the name of Linx is the meaning of this?" demanded Vaux furiously as he strode across to the troopers, his temper nearing boiling point.

"It's Trooper Reck, Sir," explained one soldier. "He appears to have gone mad! He's attacked the guard watching the entry hatch and has sealed himself into the ship. We have tried to get in, but he appears to have overridden the opening mechanism and changed the entry codes."

Vaux could not believe what he was hearing. "A Sontaran committing mutiny? This is unheard of! Open communications to the ship at once!"

"Immediately, Field Major!" said the trooper as he unclipped his communicator from his belt and tuned it in to the ship's own communication system. Once the connection was established, the trooper handed the device to Vaux.

"Trooper Reck, what on Sontar are you playing at?" bellowed Vauz into the communicator angrily.

Reck's voice crackled over the static of the communicator, the hysteria in his words all too obvious. "The monster... The monster... I must kill the monster! Blast this entire planet from space so that it cannot escape!"

For a moment, Vaux gaped as he tried to comprehend what he had just heard. "Monster? What are you jabbering about?"

Before Vaux could get a response, the communicator was abruptly snatched from his three-fingered hand and and he whirled to see that the Doctor had suddenly appeared by his side and was now talking urgently into the communicator that he had just grabbed from Vaux.

"Yes Reck, what monster exactly? Was it by any chance the same creature that attacked you earlier?"

Vaux was enraged by this intrusion. "How dare you show such a lack of respect to a Sontaran officer!? I've a good mind to..."

But Vaux's protests were again interrupted, this time by a response from Reck.

"Yes, it killed Quaarl and Stol, and now it's in my head, taunting me, torturing me with such horrific visions! I have to get away from here, clear my head, find a way to kill it!"

"No Reck, you mustn't!" said the Doctor frantically. "That's exactly what the creature wants you to do! It needs you to take off in order to obtain its freedom from this barren planet. You have to..."

But the Doctor's word fell on deaf ears. Inside the Sontarans' ship, Reck had switched off the communicator and was now powering up the engines in order to commence take-off procedures. The whole ship began to hum with power, and outside, the thruster ports began to light up with energy.

"You know, I don't think Reck is in a particularly talkative mood," said the Doctor glumly.

"Well now what are we going to do?" said Sarah. "What if that thing has already gotten onboard? If that ship blasts off, it'll escape!"

Vaux was struggling to comprehend what the two travellers were going on about. All he was certain of was that Reck had clearly gone insane and had hijacked the ship, with the apparent intention of marooning his commanding officer and fellow warriors on this miserable rock. This was something that the Field Major was not going to put up with.

"Trooper Hek, bring out the mezon cannon. We'll just blast our way in!" commanded Vaux.

"Immediately, Field Major!" saluted Hek, before he and a couple of his comrades went off to bring out the cannon as the Doctor looked on disapprovingly.

"That's the Sontaran solution to every problem, isn't it, simply blast it to pieces!" muttered the Doctor. "I suppose it's occurred to you Vaux that if you fire a mezon cannon at the hatch at point blank range, you could well reduce your ship to a load of scrap metal!"

"You keep forgetting yourself, Doctor!" snapped Vaux. "And yes, that fact has occurred to me. But I'd rather risk destroying the ship myself, than let it be stolen by a crazed deserter."

"I don't think you're getting any choice in the matter!" cried out Sarah. "Look! The ship's starting to take off!"

Sure enough, smoke was beginning to billow out from the thrusters and the spherical Sontaran ship began to gracefully lift off the ground.

"Perhaps we should all step back a bit," suggested the Doctor hastily, "or we'll all end up with very singed shoes."

Nobody needed telling twice. Time-travellers and Sontarans alike took more than a few hasty steps away from the ship, which rose further and further into the air. As the ship continued to rise, Sarah was the first to spot the wizened figure firmly clinging to the side of the ship, an evil smile on its rotting face.

"Doctor, look!" exclaimed Sarah, pointing at the hideous creature. "That Reck or whatever-his-name-is has a stowaway!"

"So he does!" agreed the Doctor. "Unless I'm missing my guess, that's the same creature that attacked him earlier and it's about to make its escape!"

"Not on my ship it won't!" roared Vaux. "Where is that mezon cannon?"

"Right here, sir," said Hek as he hurriedly wheeled over a large and formidable-looking gun mounted on a tripod. Reacting at once, Vaux grabbed the weapon from his subordinate, took careful aim and let off a volley of fierce laser-fire at the spaceship, which was attempting to fly away.

From its vantage point, the creature grasping the side of the ship saw the deadly laser blasts heading his way and swiftly moved out of the way. As a result, the energy bolts instead impacted with the ship itself, blasting a huge hole into the side of the ship. With it's hull integrity compromised, the huge sphere spun out of control and before anyone knew what was happening, the ship zoomed away into the distance and crashed right into the menacing visage of the Black Colossus of Goth. There followed a tremendous explosion and everyone had to shield their eyes from the blast as flames began to consume the huge statue.

"Oh dear, I doubt the architect would be pleased if he saw what you did there," said the Doctor to Vaux as they watched the ship crash to the ground while the looming old monument begin to crumble to bits in the blaze.

"Collateral damage," said Vaux dismissively. "The important thing is that the renegade and that monster have both been destroyed."

"Oh come off it," retorted Sarah, disgusted by Vaux's callous attitude to the death of one of his own men. "How can you be sure that thing is really dead? For all you know it may have simply jumped off before the crash!"

"If it still lives, then we shall hunt it down," snapped Vaux. "I'd like to see it stand up to the firepower of this entire platoon. By the time we've finished with that thing, it'll be little more than micro-dust!"

"Chasing after monsters in the dark," said the Doctor thoughtfully. "You know, this is a little out of character for me to say this, but I don't think that's an awfully good idea."

"I thought you would say that," sneered Vaux. "That's why you and the female are coming with us."


	7. The Apocalypse Device

It took just under half an hour for the hover transporter to reach the wreckage of the Sontaran ship, which was still blazing away beneath the now ruined Colossus. As the Doctor helped Sarah clamber out, Vaux and his troops surrounded the wreckage, weapons trained at the ready. Every remaining Sontaran was present and fully-armed, as Vaux was taking no chances on the remote possibility that the creature, whatever it was, was still alive. Cautiously, everyone moved closer and Sarah had to turn her head away at the sight of Reck's lifeless arm sticking out amidst a pile of twisted metal.

"You see, Doctor," said Vaux with satisfaction. "No creature could have survived that. Sontaran might is undefeatable!"

"Famous last words, Field Major," snorted the Doctor. "You Sontarans do so like tempting fate, don't you?"

"Indeed," came a cold and sinister voice from the flames. "And that fate awaiting you is death."

Everyone whirled to see the hideous creature emerging from the flames, seemingly unharmed, its withered black robes fluttering slightly in the cold breeze. Sarah gave a gasp of horror at the sight of the decrepit monster, its red eyes shinning brightly in the darkness. It seemed to her like the very embodiment of death.

"Ah, there you are," said the Doctor grimly. "The Apocalypse Device, I presume?"

"Well deduced, alien," said the Apocalypse Device with a small hint of admiration. "In all the centuries that I have been trapped here, no visitor had deduced so quickly as to what I was."

"Oh well, it wasn't that hard to work out," said the Doctor modestly. "A vault door that looked as though it was torn open from the inside, a virus that specifically targets its victims rather than kill indiscriminately, claw marks in some of the victims, psychic attacks..."

"So you're the Deathsmiths' ultimate weapon," cut across Sarah, stopping the Doctor from rambling on with his deductions.

"Indeed, young one," replied the Device. "I am the supreme product of the Deathsmiths' scientific advances, a synthetic creature carrying every known disease and virus in the universe, capable of transmitting telepathic attacks that can paralyse victims with fear. The Deathsmiths' wanted an ultimate weapon to destroy all their enemies, utterly deadly, terrifying beyond imagination and completely indestructible."

"No enemy of the Sontarans is indestructible," snapped Vaux, "as you will now learn. Troops, OPEN FIRE!"

Reacting at once with instinctive precision, every Sontaran began firing at the creature at point blank range, but each laser blast just bounced harmlessly off it. The Apocalypse Device laughed with amusement as it watched the frustrated Sontarans continue with their fruitless attempts to destroy it.

"That won't do you any good!" yelled the Doctor over the deafening noise of gunfire. "It's protected by a forcefield more powerful than you can imagine. None of your weapons will be able to harm it."

"Indeed," chuckled the Apocalypse Device evilly. "They cannot destroy me, whereas I can destroy them!"

The Device raised a bony and jagged finger, from which bolts of lightning suddenly shot out, striking every Sontaran except Vaux. As Vaux, the Doctor and Sarah watched in appalled fascination, the Sontaran troops began to collapse and writhe in agony, their flesh quickly being eaten away by some kind of yellowish substance until all that remained were a pile of skeletons.

"A virus based on the coronic acid that you clones are so vulnerable to," explained the Device with a sneer. "You creatures of flesh are so pathetically vulnerable. A little bug in your system and you simply fall to pieces."

Vaux glowered at the Device, enraged at the loss of his entire squad. "Spawn of a Rutan! You will pay dearly for this! This I swear!"

"They didn't deserve to die like that!" chimed in Sarah.

The Doctor gave the Device a disapproving look, his eyes narrowing in contempt. "You do take a sadistic pleasure in your work, don't you?"

The Apocalypse Device gave another cold laugh. "I am simply fulfilling my programming, Doctor, as my masters wanted. The Deathsmiths were highly ambitious when they created me. Of course, they never dreamed that one day they would lose control and I would completely obliterate them. My purpose simply is to destroy all forms of life wherever I find it. And that, of course, included the Deathsmiths themselves."

"But you got stuck here as a result of destroying your own masters, didn't you?" mocked the Doctor. "The Deathsmiths blew up all their ships in order to trap you here and when the Cybermen found you here, their Leader did exactly the same thing!"

"My 'scare tactics' failed to force the men of steel into leaving and taking me with them," admitted the Device, "just as they failed with these warmongering savages. But now I have the means of escape that I have spent over two centuries waiting for."

"Oh really? And what would that be?" asked the Doctor, raising an eyebrow.

"You of course, Doctor!" cried the Device. "My mistake before was in trying to intimidate a load of fanatics who would rather die than let me escape. But I have watched you closely. You are encumbered with compassion for others, even those who would kill you without a moment's hesitation. So, you will take me away in your ship or these two others will die. Should you prove uncooperative, I can kill one to make my position clear and then the other if you still refuse to help me escape. And believe me, I can make their deaths very slow and agonising."

Vaux snorted. "Pah! A Sontaran warrior does not fear death, monster! You can do your worse!"

Sarah turned to the Doctor desperately. "Don't listen to that thing, Doctor. You can't help it to escape and cause the deaths of millions of people!"

The Doctor looked at Sarah, his face grave and sombre. "Sorry Sarah, but I don't seem to have any real choice in the matter."


	8. The Final Gamble

Satisfied that the Doctor had seemingly given in, the Apocalypse Device let the Time Lord lead the way back to the TARDIS with Sarah and Vaux moving a short distance in front of it. Vaux, of course, had no real intention of cooperating with this monster, but he decided to bide his time and wait for the moment where he would get the best chance to slay the Device once and for all. Likewise, Sarah was hoping that the Doctor would have a trick up his sleeve to turn the tables on the Deathsmiths' ultimate weapon.

Soon, however, they reached the spot where the TARDIS had landed and the Doctor fished out his key from his coat pocket and unlocked the Police Box's doors.

"All right, if you'd all like to follow me inside," said the Doctor reluctantly as he stepped into the box. Sarah followed him inside as did Vaux and the Device. Having expected a small and cramped space like the inside of a small escape pod, Vaux was instantly astounded by the large brightly-lit control room he had just walked into. Of course, he had read the files on Time Lords and their travel capsules, but having not immediately realised that the Doctor was a Time Lord, Vaux had not been prepared to find himself inside an actual TARDIS.

"So, this is a TARDIS, is it?" he said at last, licking his lips. "What a fine weapon this would be in the hands of the Sontarans!"

"Don't get your hopes up," muttered Sarah. "We still have a homicidal doomsday creature onboard with us, remember?"

The Doctor crossed over to the six-sided console and stood ready to hit the dematerialisation control.

"Ahem, I should advice you to hold on very tight," he coughed loudly. "This old TARDIS can get a bit rickety at times and you may find the trip a bit bumpy."

The Apocalypse Device glowered at the Doctor, clearly impatient to leave Goth. "Enough stalling, Time Lord! You will take-off at once."

"Oh all right, don't say I didn't warn you," said the Doctor innocently, before turning to look at Sarah. "Hold on tight, Sarah Jane."

As the Doctor moved to hit the control, Sarah suddenly realised what he was up to. Hurriedly, she grabbed one side of the console and held on tight, as did Vaux, who was also beginning to grasp the Doctor's plan. The Doctor hit the switch and the TARDIS began to dematerialise... with the doors still wide open!

All at once, the ship suddenly lurched and began to shake violently about the place as the forces of the Space-Time Vortex took hold and tried to suck the ships' occupants out of the blue box and into the swirling tunnel of time. Having firmly grabbed the console, the Doctor, Sarah and Vaux were just about able to resist being blown out as the TARDIS spiralled out of control. But the Apocalypse Device, having taken no notice of the Doctor's feeble warning, had not bothered to get a handhold and it quickly found itself starting to be dragged out of the control room by some invisible force. Desperately, it managed to grab hold of one of the two doors and tried to pull itself back into the console room, frantically fighting against the vacuum that was trying to suck it out.

"Noooo!" it screamed. "You cannot do this to me! I will not be cheated of the stars again!"

Seeing that the Deathsmiths' cursed weapon was attempting to drag itself back into the ship, Vaux reacted at once, as he saw an opportunity to avenge his fallen comrades. Letting go of the console, he lurched himself right at the Device, colliding straight into it. Taken by surprise, the Device lost its grip on the door and it got sucked right into the vortex, its inhuman cries growing fainter and fainter as it disappeared down the tunnel.

Pleased that his opponent was vanquished, Vaux attempted to get a handhold of some kind, but the pull of the vortex was too great and he quickly found himself tumbling out as well. As darkness began to claim him, Field Major Vaux felt both pride and satisfaction. He had been at last granted the glorious warriors' death that he had always yearned for.

* * *

Back inside the TARDIS, the Doctor desperately thumped the console controls with his fist and the double doors finally began to close. As the pull of the vacuum subsided and the TARDIS began to get itself back under control, the Doctor and Sarah unsteadily straightened themselves up.

"Goodness me, that was a close call," breathed the Doctor. "You all right, Sarah?"

Sarah nodded. "Is it all over?'

"Oh yes," grinned the Doctor. "The power of the Space-Time vortex were too much for even the Deathsmiths' ultimate weapon. The Apocalypse Device was sucked straight out and once exposed to the forces out there, it'll rapidly age to death." His smile dropped a little. "Pity about the Field Major though. I hadn't intended for him to be sucked out as well."

"Oh, don't be too hard on yourself, Doctor," said Sarah consolingly. "After all, he was probably going to kill us himself later on when it suited him and you did say that Sontarans love nothing more than dying on the battlefield."

"I suppose so," sighed the Doctor. "And he did take out one of the most dangerous and evil creatures in the universe. Not the worst way to go I suppose."

There was a sudden display of sparks from the console and the Doctor tried to wave away the resulting smoke with his scarf. "Oh dear, all that ruckus has caused a bit of overload in the main circuits. The console's gone into shutdown mode."

He gave the console an affectionate pat. "Sorry about that, old girl. I know I did promise not to take-off with your doors open again, but this was an emergency."

Sarah looked at the Doctor worriedly. "You mean we're now marooned in the vortex, stuck here forever?"

"Not at all," said the Doctor reassuringly. "We'll just have to use one of the old control rooms while the systems in here repair themselves. Might be a bit on the dusty side though."

"Oh I hope not," said Sarah sombrely. "I've had enough death and decay I can take for one day, thank you very much."

* * *

Out in the swirling tunnel of the Space-Time Vortex, the Apocalypse Device continued to fall, it's body rapidly ageing. Most lifeforms exposed to the vortex would have aged to death within seconds, but for a creature with such a long lifespan like the Apocalypse Device, the process took approximately 2 earth minutes. Just enough time for it to comprehend what had happened.

The Device could not believe how easily it had allowed itself to be tricked, to allow itself to be exposed to the only force in the universe that could destroy it: Time. It could feel itself rapidly decaying and falling to bits and in just a few more seconds, it would be dead.

Why did it let this happen? Did it, on some subconscious level, wish for this? Did it, after all the centuries it spent alone on Goth, actually come to prefer death to spending the whole of eternity trapped on some dead barren world? Or did it simply get careless? Truthfully, it did not know.

But as death finally came to claim the Apocalypse Device, it gave out a final cold laugh at the irony of the Deathsmiths' final mistake.

Their ultimate weapon was _not _indestructible after all.


End file.
